Liquified gas cigarette lighters



1963 A. M. ROSFELDER 3,

LIQUIFIED GAS CIGARETTE LIGHTERS Filed Dec. 28, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l "A A ar A Will/l1? 1 a a IA INVEN'JOR. ANDRE M42651. ROSFELDEQ ATTOQIVEYj' Dec. 3, 1968 Filed Dec.

A. M. ROSFELDER LIQUIFIED GAS CIGARETTE LIGHTERS 2 Sheets-Sheet "1 INVEN'TOR. ANDRE MARC'EL ROSFELDER ATTORNEYS United States Patent 0 3,414,363 LIQUIFIED GAS CIGARETTE LIGHTERS Andr Marcel Rosfeider, 77 Viale Pasteur, Rome, Italy Filed Dec. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 516,878 9 Claims. (Cl. 431-83) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A liquid gas cigarette lighter provided with simple means for regulating the fiow of gas to a burner valve. An expansion chamber is provided in the lighter at the inlet end of the burner valve and contains a pair of woven mesh material disks separated by a soft depressable gas impervious disk positioned between an inlet opening to the chamber and the outlet opening from the chamber to the burner valve. Means are provided in the lighter for varying the compressible force exerted on the expansion chamber so that the amount of gas passing over the woven mesh material disks is regulated by the extent to which the compressible disk is forced into the openings in the mesh. Easily operable means are associated with the lighter for moving the valve between its open and closed positions and for concurrently igniting the gas when the valve is opened. Alternatively, the lighter may be ignited manually or automatically. To afford automatic operation, an electric circuit is provided with a switch which closes the circuit upon a change in the position or orientation of the lighter casing. The electric circuit opens the valve by means of a solenoid and also affords the generation of a spark for the ignition of the gas delivered through the valve.

The present invention relates to cigarette lighters fueled with liquified gas, such lighters being characterized by a highly simplified expansion chamber which leads toward a burner valve, the opening and closing of the valve being ensured by its vertical displacement. The expansion chamber and valve device make it possible, in turn, to devise very simple control mechanisms by which cigarette lighters can be opened and lighted by movement of a single finger and, in a modification of the above embodiment, the mechanism can be made entirely automatic by means of an electric circuit which is opened and closed by the mere change of position of the cigarette lighter body.

The essential advantage of this invention is the possibility of devising a gas-fueled cigarette lighter, the number of components thereof being definitely less than those in gas-fueled cigarette lighters known at present both in economy lighters which are discarded, when all the fuel is used up, and in entirely automatic luxury cigarette lighters. A further advantage of this invention is the possibility of producing cigarette lighters which are lighted efficiently by means of a very simple movement by the operator, either by the movement of a single finger or by the mere change of position of the cigarette lighter.

The liquified gas reaches the burner valve through an expansion chamber which presses a piece of woven mesh material made of either a metal or a fabric, between two walls of which at least one is a disc made of soft material. The gas circulates in the plane of the woven mesh material through the interspaces formed by the crossing over of the fibers and, by regulating the pressure of the flexible disc against the mesh material, the distribution of the gas and the consequent height of the flame can be controlled. The burner valve is a cylindrical body traversed by an axial channel which abuts a closing washer; its vertical movement controls the flow of the vaporized liquid. In a modification of this embodiment, the displacement of a mobile internal piston, controlled by a solenoid,

3,414,363 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 "ice ensures in a similar way the control of the flow of the gas.

In another embodiment, the vertical displacement of the burner valve is controlled by a sliding lamina or plate on which a traction force is exerted in one direction or in the other by the normal or reverse rotation of a knurled wheel, owing to the difference of the friction coefiicient between the two surfaces of the lamina, either owing to the rocking of the flint-carrying tube or also to the free eccentricity of the axis of the ignition wheel. In a further embodiment, the wheel is supported by a rocking cap controlling the displacement of the burner valve by means of a lamina fastened to and solid with the cap.

In another embodiment a mercury or pendular contact closes the electric circuit when a lifting force is exerted vertically on the cigarette lighter which may have a discoidal form, and this circuit controls at one part a solenoid which opens the burner valve and on the other, the formation of the ignition spark.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a cigarette lighter built according to the invention with a burner valve opening when a lifting force is exerted thereon and a control lamina on which traction is exerted by the rocking of the llintcarrying tube;

FIG. 2 is an external view of the same cigarette lighter, in which the free eccentricity of the spark wheel is illustrated;

FIG. 3 is a section in detail of the gas expansion chamber;

FIG. 4 is the section of a burner valve which is opened by lowering thereof;

FIGS. 5 and 6 represent contr'ol laminae according to the types of valves;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another cigarette lighter according to the invention with an opening and ignition mechanism formed by a rocking cap;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the rocking cap shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the burner valve containing an internal piston, the sliding movement of which is controlled by a solenoid;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a cigarette lighter according to the invention which is entirely automatic and which can be ignited by a change of its position;

FIG. 11 represents a sectional view of the same cigarette lighter.

In FIG. 1, the closing mechanism is contained within the cigarette lighter body 1. This mechanism contains, in turn, the movably positionable burner valve 2, placed in a cylindrical housing 3 which is placed on top of an expansion chamber 4. The burner valve 2 is traversed by an axial channel which leads by means of two lateral channels to the top of a conical seat, so that the burner valve will abut a washer 5. The housing 3 contains a knurled head 6 available at the outer surface of the lighter, see FIG. 2, which makes it possible to screw the housing in or out from the outside. The housing 3 abuts against the expansion chamber 4 by means of a flexible washer 7. The expansion chamber contains two pieces of woven mesh material 8:: and 812, made either of metal or fabric, of the kind used for sieves, placed against the surface Of a flexible compressible gas impervious disc 9, the diameter of which is less than the inner diameter of the housing 3 and the shape of which is polygonal or presents undulated edges, in order to enable the gas to circulate in the plane of the piece of mesh material 812, then to proceed around the outer borders of the disc 9 and to pass again along the plane of mesh material 8:: in order to leave through an outlet 10. When the burner valve 2 is lifted, its conical lower base moves away from the washer 5 and the gas can enter into the inner channel 11 of the valve. The gas is brought to the expansion chamber 4 by a wick or by a tube 12, which extends into the tank 13. It can be seen in FIG. 1 that when the housing 3 is screwed down or up by means of the knurled head 6 the pressure on the mesh material 8a, 8b against the flexible compressible disc 9 can be modified and, consequently, the interspaces for the passage of the gas varied; this permits the regulation of the adduction of the gas and the corresponding height of the flame.

The vertical displacement of the burner valve is controlled in one of the embodiments according to the invention as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by a sliding lamina 14 which is directly controlled by the rotation of the knurled wheel 17 and by its friction on the lamina. In order to improve this action, the sliding lamina presents a considerable dilference between the friction coeflicient of its upper surface which may, for example, be relatively rough at its area of contact with the wheel, and of its lower surface which may, for instance, be covered with a plastic material having lubricating properties, such as Teflon, in contact with the body of the cigarette lighter. A second improvement consists in the fact that the flint-carrying tube 15 can rock in the housing 16 under the friction of the wheel 17 against the ignition flint 18. The flint-carrying tube passes through an opening 19 in the sliding lamina and furthers the displacement of the lamina by rocking. A third improvement consists in devising a free eccentricity of the axis 20 of the wheel on its support, both by providing support bearings which present a greater width than the axis, if same is solid with the wheel, or by making the hub of the wheel wider than the axis, if. the latter wheel is solid with the body of the lighter.

The sliding lamina 14 abuts against a shoulder 21 of the burner valve 2 by means of an opening 23 and, moving laterally in a direction corresponding to the normal rotation of the wheel which exerts a lifting force on it due to the internal pressure of the gas, and reversely, in direction corresponding to the reverse rotation of the wheel, said lamina lowers the burner valve which will then come to rest on the closing washer 5. Thus, a normal rotation of the wheel is sufficient to ensure the opening of the valve whereby gas is released and ignited and the reverse rotation of the wheel brings about the closing of the valve. The control of the whole operation is, therefore, very simple and can be carried out by the movement of one finger.

The production of this kind of lighter in plastic material may necessitate the presence of a metal or refractory cap 1a, provided with aeration openings as illustrated in FIGURE 2.

The burner valve shown in FIG. 1 can be conceived in a somewhat different way so that it opens when the valve is lowered, and it closes when the valve is raised. FIG. 4 illustrates this modification of the embodiment in which the constituting elements are fundamentally identical, but in which the closing is effected by a shoulder 22 fitted on the closing washer. The control of this burner valve by means of a sliding lamina 14 and by the rotation of the wheel, is identical to the one described before, but the form of the lamina is different. FIG. shows the model of a lamina to be used for the type of burner described in FIG. 1; this lamina presents an opening 19 through which the flint-carrying tube passes, and an opening 23, which abuts against shoulder 21 of the burner valve and controls its vertical displacement. FIG. 6 illustrates another model of a lamina which can be used for the type of burner valve described in FIG. 4 with the same opening 19 for the flint-carrying tube and a control fork 24 which is inserted into a lateral notch on the burner valve.

The flint tube 15 described in FIG. 1 permits the use of an even more simple control mechanism, which is represented in FIGS. 7 and 8. The cigarette lighter carries a cap 25 which rocks on an axis 26 and presents a fork 27 abutting against the burner valve 2. When the wheel 17, which is fastened to the cap, is pressed, the cap 25 will rock and the burner valve will be free to rise under the pressure of the gas. The cap is blocked in open position, as can be seen by FIG. 7 from its lightly curved wall 28 and is resiliently retained in a corresponding notch of the lighter body. When pressure is exerted on the fingerpiece 29 of the cap, it will rotate in the other direction, the fork lowers the burner valve closing off the flow of gas and the cap is blocked in its closed position by its wall 28 which then resiliently places itself on the body of the cigarette lighter.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the burner valve, in which the housing of the mobile or movably positionable valve, which has been described hereabove, forms the burner valve 30 and contains a movable piston 31 with a conical head applied against a washer 32 of the same shape by the action of a spring 33. This soft iron piston 31 is displaced some distace from the washer by the action of a solenoid 34 and the gas can flow freely from the expansion chamber 4 towards the channel 35. The piston has a polygonal or irregular section in order to leave a passageway for the gas between its own wall and the cylindrical wall of the housing. The regulation of the gas circulation in the expansion chamber is carried out as in the burners previously described by adjusting the position of the valve 30 by means of its knurled head 6. The head carries an isolating section 36 which is inserted between the contacts 37a and 37b and controls the electric circuit in such a way that, when the housing is screwed down as far as possible, the expansion phase in chamber 4 is closed and the electric circuit is interrupted as well, in order to avoid having the lighter ignite itself by accident.

This burner valve permits the creation (FIG. 10) of a completely automatic cigarette lighter characterized by the presence of an electric source 38, by a mercury or pendular contact 39 and a condenser or transistor system 40 which causes the discharge of a spark at the electrodes 40a and 40b when the closing of the circuit causes the functioning of the solenoid 34 and the opening of the burner valve 30. Adding a temporizer system, constituted; for instance, a condenser or by a resistance, so that ignition does not occur until a short time has elapsed, thus permitting the arrival of the gas, it is understood that this modification does not effect the nature of the invention.

The cigarette lighter also has a tank 41, either fixed or preferably irremovable, put into position by an opening in the tube 42. The cigarette lighter, without departing from the principle of the invention, is given preferably the functional shape of a disc so that when lying flat, i.e. in the stable position, this corresponds to the opening position of the mercury contact and that the unstable vertical position corresponds to the closing position of the contact with the consequent action of the solenoid providing the arrival of the gas and the formation of the spark and ignition.

Both, in the embodiment represented in FIGURE 1. in which the body of the cigarette lighter itself forms the tank, as well as the embodiment in which the cigarette lighter is discarded after the fuel is used up, or in the last embodiment, FIGS. 10 and 11, it is intended that transparent plastic material might be used to contain the lighter fluid and also to colour the fluid so that its level can be checked through the transparent wall.

Although this invention has been illustrated on the basis of some preferred embodiments only, it should be understood that changes may be made therein without departing from the invention in its broader aspects within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas from a supply source to an ignition station comprising a housing having walls forming an expansion chamber, said expansion chamber having a first opening communicating with a supply source of liquified gas and a second opening, valve means mounted in communication with the second opening in said expansion chamber and providing a flow path for the passage of gas from said expansion chamber to an ignition station, said valve means movable between a first position for closing the second opening from said expansion chamber and a second position for opening the second opening from said expansion chamber, at least one disk of a woven mesh material arranged within said expansion chamber and extending across the fiow path between said first and second openings thereof, a compressible gas impervious disk situated within said expansion chamber in face-toface contact with said disk of mesh material, and means for urging said disks together for varying the amount of gas available at said second opening of said expansion chamber for subsequent delivery through said valve means to an ignition station;

2. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas as set forth in claim 1, wherein said expansion chamber contains a pair of said woven mesh material disks disposed on the opposite sides of and in contact with the faces of said impervious disk whereby the flow path of gas within said expansion chamber is from the first opening transversely across the face of one of said mesh material disks about the outer edge of said gas impervious disk and transversely across the surface of said other woven mesh material disk to the second opening of said expansion chamber.

3. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means for urging said disks together comprises a movable member forming a wall of said expansion chamber in substantially parallel relationship with the faces of said disks, adjustably positionable wall means bearing against said member and an adjustably positionable head member in contact with said wall means for positioning said wall means into variably bearing contact with said member for compressing the disks together within said expansion chamber.

4. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquid gas as set forth in claim 3, wherein said movable member has an opening therethrough forming the second opening from said expansion chamber.

5. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas as set forth in claim 1, wherein means are provided for selectively positioning said valve means comprising a first member associated with said valve means and a second member spaced from said valve means and associated with said first member for moving said valve means between its open and closed positions.

6. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas as set forth in claim 5, wherein a casing is disposed about said apparatus, said first member is a plate member mounted on said casing and abutting said valve means, said second member is a rotatable wheel having a portion of its surface in contact with said plate whereby as the wheel is rotated, the plate means is rocked and is selectively engaged or disengaged from the valve means for opening and closing the second opening in said expansion chamber.

7. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas as set forth in claim 6, wherein said casing is formed of a plastic material, a refractory material insert disposed about the outlet of said valve means in said plastic casing.

8. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas as set forth in claim 1, wherein an electric circuit including a solenoid is associated with said valve means for positioning the valve means between its open and closed positions.

9. An apparatus for regulating and controlling the flow of liquified gas as set forth in claim 8, wherein said electric circuit includes a switch having a first position for maintaining said circuit open and a second position for closing said circuit whereby said switch is selectively opened and closed by changing the position of said valve means for automatically opening and closing said valve means and providing ignition for the gas emitted from said valve means when open.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,664,008 12/1963 Gessmann 677.1 2,779,180 1/1957 Perlin 677.1 3,018,648 1/1962 Todtenhofer 677.l 3,186,603 6/1965 Burchette 677.1 X

EDWARD J. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner. 

